5 WILD ★'s

I love Where the Wild Things Are :) I can still remember the first time being introduced to this book back in grade school. It instantly became an all-time favorite of mine and still is to this very day! I love Max's character lol he's a bit of a BRAT! The illustrations are utterly fantastic and so so beautiful with a creepiness to them. I love being able to share my favorite books with my little niece's :) It is truly a childhood classic for a reason.


*Plus the movie is brilliant!!! It was such an excellent movie and EVERYONE should really watch it!*

REREAD (October 2023):
I totally forgot how wonderful Sendak's illustrations are; totally raising this to five stars. The panel where the forest grows in Max's bedroom is my absolute favorite. So magical! The story is fun as well; I'm definitely passing it on to my nephew once he's older. Super stoked that a found an English copy for 6,00€ in perfect condition!

REZENSION:
Wo die wilden Kerle wohnen (englischer Originaltitel: Where the Wild Things Are) ist ein erstmals 1963 von Harper & Row veröffentlichtes Kinder- und Bilderbuch des US-amerikanischen Autors und Illustrators Maurice Sendak, jüngstes von drei Kindern einer Familie polnisch-jüdischer Einwanderer. Im Jahr 1967 erschien die erste deutschsprachige Übersetzung von Claudia Schmölders im Diogenes Verlag. Das Buch wurde diverse Male adaptiert, unter anderem als animierter Kurzfilm (1974), Oper (1980) und als Kinofilm von Spike Jonze (2009). Sendak erhielt für das Buch 1964 die Caldecott Medal als bestes Kinderbuch. Im Jahr 2012 wurde es zum wiederholten Male von Lesern des School Library Journals zum besten Bilderbuch aller Zeiten gewählt.

Mir begegnete das Buch zum ersten Mal in der 3. oder 4. Klasse, als wir es im Lebenskundeunterricht lasen, besprachen und adaptierten. Ich erinnere mich noch so gut daran, wie wir für unser kleines Theaterstuck die Monster-Masken bastelten. Meine war farbenfroh und an einem Stiel aus Holz befestigt, sodass ich mir die übergroße Maske (ja, sie war größer als mein Kopf) gut vor das Gesicht halten konnte, natürlich wurden Löcher für die Augen ausgespart. ;) Ich erinnere mich nicht mehr genau daran, wie die eigentliche Aufführung des Stücks lief (und vor allem vor wem wir das aufführten? den anderen Klassen? unseren Eltern?); ich erinnere mich aber noch daran, wie es im Unterricht zu einer kleinen Meinungsverschiedenheit zwischen mir und meiner damaligen besten Freundin kam, weil wir beide gerne die Rolle des Erzählers/der Erzählerin haben wollten. Es war nämlich so, dass quasi ein Max und ganz viele Monster gecastet wurden und dann noch ein Erzähler, der die Geschichte vorlesen sollte, während die anderen sie durch Schauspiel darstellten. Meine Lehrerin nahm mich dann ganz gewissenhaft beiseite und erklärte mir, dass sie mich gerne als Erzählerin gesehen hätte, aber ich meiner besten Freundin aufgrund ihres leicht erzürnbaren Temperaments (lmao, gurl what?) doch bitte den Vortritt lassen soll. Ich erinnere mich noch so gut daran, weil ich damals, als 9-Jährige wohlbemerkt, richtig empört darüber war. Ich wollte doch Erzählerin sein. Nunja, wie auch immer. Ich habe auch ein tolles Monster abgegeben. ;)

Die Geschichte handelt von einem Jungen namens Max. Nachdem dieser ein Wolfskostüm angezogen hat, tobt er so wild durch das Haus, dass er von seiner Mutter ohne Abendessen ins Bett geschickt wird. Das Schlafzimmer von Max verwandelt sich daraufhin auf geheimnisvolle Weise in eine Dschungelumgebung. Max gelangt mit einem kleinen Segelboot auf eine Insel, die von großen Monstern bewohnt wird, den "wilden Kerlen". Nachdem es ihm gelungen ist, die Kreaturen einzuschüchtern, wird Max zum König der wilden Kerle gekrönt, und er genießt die Balgerei mit seinen Untertanen. Dennoch beginnt er sich einsam zu fühlen, so dass er sich entschließt, nach Hause zurückzukehren, zur Bestürzung der wilden Kerle. Bei seiner Rückkehr entdeckt Max sein noch warmes Abendessen neben sich.

This book excited my imagination when I read it as a 7-year old child many moons ago. Books like this one bolstered my love for reading.

I re-read this book and upped the stars to 4 from 3.

I am currently reading The Wild Things by Dave Eggers.

I wanted to see what creativity Mr. Eggers added to this story.

This book filled me with questions. To wit:

What exactly, besides terrorizing the dog, did Max do that earned him a scolding and a punishment from Mommy?

How did a jungle, an ocean and a private boat appear in his room? Seems unbearably claustrophobic.

If he sailed for such a long length of time, how did he survive on no supper? Did he shoot albatrosses or something?

And, perhaps more importantly, how did he handle the call of nature?

Did the wild things have names? How did they get there? And why was their behaviour so meek when clearly they could easily have overpowered the brat and eaten him?

As you can see, this was a thoroughly mystifying narrative.

Classic cute children's book. Missing dinner and forced to go to bed early is one of the greatest punishments, yet when you can always...
"...sail through night and day
and in and out of weeks
and almost over a year
to where the wild things are..."
...and you'll be enchanted by the wild things and be claimed king! Then have to come home because you're still hungry :P

FINISCE SEMPRE COSÌ


Il film omonimo diretto da Spike Jonze, 2009.

Sì, per fortuna finisce sempre così.
E meno male che c'è qualcuno che ce lo ricorda, aiutandosi con splendidi disegni come fa Maurice Sendak.

Questo libro è ormai un classico, non solo perché ha cinquanta e passa anni di vita, ma per il suo successo e la sua diffusione (videogiochi, composizioni musicali, teatro, cinema).


Ancora il film diretto da Spike Jonze.

Da piccoli la paura è un sentimento utile, perfino salvifico.
È crescendo che diventa letale.

Se qualcuno volesse far approfondire l'argomento al proprio bambino, consiglio caldamente La Grosse colère – Che rabbia! di Mireille d'Allancé del quale segue questa immagine:

4 ⭐

No real moral to this one, as far as I can tell. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Sort of written more FOR kids than AT kids which I can dig. After all, we don’t ALWAYS need to be learning lessons, do we?
Sometimes, kids might need to just let their imaginations run wild and imagine flipping the bird at the authorities in their life, in their case, those dull old parents. Wild thing, am I? You don’t know the half of it; I’m the King of the Wild Things!
The start of Michael Jackson’s ‘Black or White’ came to mind. You know where the kid’s pumping his music and the Dad’s not having a bar of it:
….
Kid: Dad, this is the best part, come on!
Dad: No, turn it off now!
Kid: No, this is the-I want to listen to it, OK?
Dad: You've got things to do tomorrow, turn it off now!
Kid: Yeah, right. Too late. Sure. Eat this.

An ode to the rebellious, dreaming spirit in all of us. Pure fun. Pure rumpus!

Ay fue muy tierno. Es la primera vez que lo leo y <3
Quiero ver la película aunque supongo que debe arruinar el libro jajaja

سال‌ها پیش همین مهشاد برای تولدم اینو فرستاد و من الان خوندم و چه بد که همون موقع نخوندم. چرا؟

تصویرگری عالی، قصه‌گویی جادویی و بی‌مانند. توی این حجم با این حد کم از کلمات این���قدر شگفتی خلق کرده.

4 Stars for Where The Wild Thing Are (audiobook) by Maurice Sandak read by Peter Schickele.

This was a fun memory from my childhood.

Where the Wild Things Are is one of those stories - like much of the work of Dr. Seuss - that is a treasured memento of my own early reading childhood, and as a result, excruciatingly difficult to subject to any kind of meaningful analysis (would "it's genius!" suffice?). So deeply embedded is it, in my memories of childhood, that it seems almost perfect to me, and utterly impervious to criticism.

With a rather free-form text - Sendak's sentences tend to tumble along, in a rushing accretion of thoughts that, despite their seeming disorganization, build flawlessly toward the final page - and brilliant engraving-style artwork, this book perfectly captures a child's willful obstinacy, when being punished (something with which I was intimately acquainted, as a girl), and the healing balm provided by the imagination, during such turbulent incidents. Childhood, despite the sincere desire of many that it should be otherwise, is not all sweetness and light. Rather, it is often a time of terror, as the young person contends with a world that is on a different, and far larger scale than herself; and sometimes also of rage, at the discovery that life, and the people in it, will not always (in fact, will rarely) be governed by our will. This isn't to say that this is all that childhood is, but I think it is certainly a significant part, and a necessary one, in the maturing process. And Sendak, a true picture-book pioneer, captured that to perfection here!

I do not know, despite my love for it, to whom I would recommend Where the Wild Things Are. To young children who love imaginary (or not) voyages? To kids who resent being punished, and want a way to express their frustration, all while being assured that at the end, they will still be loved? To fans of fine engravings in general, and Sendak's work in particular? To anyone interested in the genre of picture-books? Yes. To all of these, I think.